Nebraska Cornhuskers news: UCLA pays 'Calimony,' TJ Lateef a 'huge get,' more

The Nebraska Cornhuskers couldn't quite stay in contention for the regular season Big Ten title. After winning the first two games of their series against Michigan State, they fell and fell hard on Sunday, losing 11-6 to the Spartans.

The loss slid them into the #2 seed for next week's Big Ten tournament. That means they'll play in the second game, starting at 2pm on Tuesday, against 7th-seeded Ohio State. The first game of the tournament will feature 3rd-seeded Indiana against 6th-seeded Purdue.

The final game of the first round has top-seeded Illinois versus 8th-seeded Penn State. Wednesday will have 4th-seeded Iowa take on 5th-seded Michigan at 2pm. Then the losers of NU vs OSU and Illinois vs Penn State will play in the Big Ten tournament's first elimination game.

For now, Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Will Bolt hasn't said who will get the ball for the Huskers, but the smart money is on staff ace Brett Sears to start the tourney off right.

UCLA has to pay 'Calimony'

According to Football Scoop, UCLA will pay the University of California $10 million annually for the next three years as "Calimony" to support Cal's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). This arrangement follows the UC board of regents' approval of UCLA's move to the Big Ten Conference in December 2022. 

Initially, there were concerns about the impact on Cal, but the decision went ahead, contributing to the collapse of the Pac-12. Consequently, Oregon and Washington also joined the Big Ten, while the Four Corners schools moved to the Big 12, and Cal and Stanford joined the ACC.

While UCLA expects significant revenue from the Big Ten, the transition imposes financial and logistical challenges, including a substantial budget deficit and increased travel costs. Cal, receiving reduced ACC payments until the 2030s, will use the alimony to offset some financial strain.

TJ Lateef a 'huge get' for Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska Cornhuskers fans were no doubt, quite excited about the commitment of TJ Lateef earlier this month. But analysts around the sport also believe Matt Rhule and company got themselves a heck of an asset in the 4-star signal-caller.

Among them was Mike Farrell who did a "fact or fiction" on whether Lateef was indeed a "huge get."

Farrell marked it as "fact" before laying out his case.

"Lateef is a talented kid and a 4-star talent in this class, but his commitment is more important than rankings and even skill. It’s so hard to land an elite QB following a 5-star commit for programs like Nebraska in this day and age, so this is huge. While we are used to 5-star QBs lining up for other programs, for the Huskers to land a 5-star and follow it with a 4-star is uncommon — and very important."

Nebraska athletes get their degrees

A school-record 103 Husker student-athletes earned their degrees this weekend during the University of Nebraska's commencement ceremonies. Among them were a couple of NFLers who returned to Lincoln to graduate.

Cam Taylor-Britt and Nate Gerry were among them.

Taylor-Britt, Gerry, Ethan Piper and Nash Hutmacher are among 15 current or former Husker football players in the huge class of May graduates. That doesn't even include, punter Brian Buschini, who earned his master's degree on Friday. 

The count of Nebraska Cornhuskers athletes is only undergrads getting their bachelors.